Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again

Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar. It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life"

According to the Inspector General for the General Services Administration, managers at the GSA helped their friends in the private sector get lucrative contracts. The stunning report shows that GSA managers routinely overruled contracting officers on certain accounts, including Carahsoft and two large IT contracts with Deloitte and Oracle.

...The IG found, according to the Federal Times, that “After GSA managers intervened in contracting officer decisions, the result was higher-than-appropriate prices for federal customers and a demoralized acquisition staff for GSA.”

Former Rep. Ron Paul isn’t buying that NSA surveillance of private American citizens is necessary or has prevented as many terrorism plots as officials claim it has, as was unveiled by hearings today.“I don’t really believe that because I think they fudged the figures. Of those 50 plots that they stopped, I think 40 were minor plots overseas, for all we know. So they stretched the point. And even these hearings today were a bit of a sham…because they had already decided what the results would be,” Paul said on Fox News on Tuesday. “They have to try to justify their existence of destroying the freedom of and the privacy of the American citizens, otherwise they’re out of work.”

The Texas Republican was referencing the House Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday where National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander said communication surveillance programs have thwarted more than 50 “potential terrorist events”. Paul also wasn’t amused by the NSA trying to pass the intrusions off as an attempt to save Americans and the American way of life.“It’s sort of like the old story about you have to burn the village to save the village. They want to burn the Constitution to save the Constitution,” he said. “And even today, [James] Cole, the Deputy Attorney General says, the Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply to this. Where did he get this brilliance to know when it applies and when it doesn’t?”

“If we can go to war and do all these other things and throw the constitution out the window so casually, you better be sure if you give them an inch, they’re going to take a mile and paint themselves as heroes,” Paul added. “The one thing they don’t do is ever ask the motivation for people wanting to kill us. If we don’t ask that question we can’t stop these problems by just taking more liberties away from the American people. We’re going in the opposite way. We’ve taken away the constitution, we’re supposed to be fighting to save the constitution. It’s completely turned on its head.”

President Obama's visit to the Group of Eight summit has created a political row in Ireland after an outspoken liberal lawmaker on Wednesday denounced the U.S. president as a “war criminal” for his drone use and his decision to arm the Syrian rebels. Parliamentarian Clare Daly said her country's government had showcased the country “as a nation of pimps, prostituting ourselves in return for a pat on the head," The Irish Timesreports.

The “unprecedented slobbering” during Obama's two-day visit to Northern Ireland, she said, had even led to speculation that “you were going to deck the Cabinet out in leprechaun hats decorated with a bit of stars and stripes to really mark abject humiliation.” The Irish head of government, Enda Kenny, called the remarks “disgraceful. I think they do down the pride of Irish people all over the world who are more than happy to see this island being host to the G-8,” he said.

“And for you to stand up and criticize the American president for giving a continuation of support for a fragile peace process in Northern Ireland, where over 3,000 people lost their lives in 30 years, is a disgraceful do-down.”Daly's pique appears to have been provoked by the White House's announcement last week that it will provide “military support” for the Syrian rebels after accusing Bashar Assad's forces of using chemical weapons. Ireland has remained neutral since shortly after its independence from Great Britain in 1922, and was one of the most vocal critics of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

“This is the man who is in essence stalling the Geneva peace talks [scheduled for next month] by trying to broker enhanced leverage for the Syrian opposition by giving them arms — and to hell with the thousands more who’ll lose their lives, or the tens of thousands who will be displaced,” Daly said. “This is the man who has facilitated a 200 percent increase in the use of drones which have killed thousands of people, including hundreds of children."

The main function of a White House press secretary is to distribute information for the administration, which often requires answering difficult questions. Apparently, no one knows this better than Jay Carney, the current spokesman for President Obama.

...The following list indicates which methods Carney has used to avoid giving answers and the number of times he's used each of them:

"I don't have the answer … " 1905 times "I would refer you to … " 1383 times "You already know the answer … " 1125 times "I'm not going to tell you ... " 939 times "Not that I know of … " 927 times "I don't want to … " 588 times "I'm not sure ... " 549 times "I won't speculate ... " 525 times "No comment … " 429 times "I'll get back to you ..." 387 times "It's a good question … " 381 times "See yesterday's nonresponse … " 231 times "The President won't tell me ... " 117 times

PRESIDENT OBAMA: "Now, what we’re doing, I want to be clear, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."

Head line from the Washington Post : At Zimmerman trial, Martin’s mother testifies

Here's the opening paragraph: SANFORD, Fla. — The mothers of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman listened Friday to the same 911 recording of someone screaming for help, and each said she was convinced the voice was that of her own son.

...Perhaps the most significant aspect of the Stuxnet attack was it demonstrated how Obama had given to himself new powers to launch a cyberwar against any country without Congressional approval. Unlike conventional war in which soldiers are sent to the front and bombs are dropped from the skies, cyberweapons silently and stealthily attack information systems, as well as financial and power centers. We do not know how many times Obama has used his new Cyber Command unit to attack nations other than Iran.

Obama’s Presidential Policy Directive 20, known as PPD 20, which he signed in October 2012, was a stark example of a power grab to accord to him special powers to launch a cyber war at a moment of his choosing. The Guardian newspaper, which first revealed the existence of the directive, claimed it sought a larger target list for cyber attacks and contemplated the use of cyber weapons within the U.S. if the president gave the green light and only in an emergency. But what kind of emergency remains unclear, as does the list of nations he might target in the future.

Obammer said Tray-tray could've been him. While Obammer as a teen had a better grasp of grammar, Obammer, like Tray-Tray, liked to smoke a bunch of reefer and wander around suburban developments. Tho Tray-tray's cannabis cravings were fo Skittles candies, while Obammer preferred tha Starburst candies (previous known as Opal Fruits - check yo shelf)

most times when i am seeing footages of Anti-Obammer Rallies, I am seeing signs depicting Bammer as the Heath Ledger Joker, which I dont really gett.Bammer doesnt really remind me of Joker ... if he were a Bat-Man villain, he'd be ... I dunno, Mr. Freeze prehaps? And maybe with touches of The Riddler ... ?

BERLIN (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency has bugged the United Nations' New York headquarters, Germany's Der Spiegel weekly said on Sunday in a report on U.S. spying that could further strain relations between Washington and its allies.

Citing secret U.S. documents obtained by fugitive former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, Der Spiegel said the files showed how the United States systematically spied on other states and institutions. Der Spiegel said the European Union and the U.N.'s Vienna-based nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), were among those targeted by U.S. intelligence agents.

In the summer of 2012, NSA experts succeeded in getting into the U.N. video conferencing system and cracking its coding system, according one of the documents cited by Der Spiegel. "The data traffic gives us internal video teleconferences of the United Nations (yay!)," Der Spiegel quoted one document as saying, adding that within three weeks the number of decoded communications rose to 458 from 12.

Internal files also show the NSA spied on the EU legation in New York after it moved to new rooms in autumn 2012. Among the documents copied by Snowden from NSA computers are plans of the EU mission, its IT infrastructure and servers. According to the documents, the NSA runs a bugging program in more than 80 embassies and consulates worldwide called "Special Collection Service". "The surveillance is intensive and well organized and has little or nothing to do with warding off terrorists," wrote Der Spiegel.

Snowden's leaks have embarrassed the United States by exposing the global extent of its surveillance programs. Washington has said its spies operate within the law and that the leaks have damaged national security. A week ago Britain, a staunch U.S. ally in the intelligence field, detained the partner of a Brazil-based journalist working for London's Guardian newspaper who has led coverage of Snowden's leaks. British police said documents seized from David Miranda were "highly sensitive" and could put lives at risk if disclosed.

The Guardian last week destroyed computer equipment containing Snowden files after it was threatened with possible legal action by senior British government advisers. In an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron published on Sunday, editors of leading Nordic newspapers said Miranda's detention and moves against the Guardian were "undermining the position of the free press throughout the world".

"(We are) deeply concerned that a stout defender of democracy and free debate such as the United Kingdom uses anti-terror legislation in order to legalize what amounts to harassment of both the paper and individuals associated with it," said the letter from Sweden's Dagens Nyheter, Finland's Helsingin Sanomat, Denmark's Politiken and Norway's Aftenposten.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Barack Obama announced plans to limit U.S. government surveillance programs, saying the United States could and should be more transparent. The issue has also become a hot topic in Germany before an election next month. Some reports have suggested that German intelligence agents have cooperated with U.S. spies.

NSA Spied on Communications of Mexican, Brazilian Presidents, Documents Show

A new report from Brazilian news program Fantastico reveals that the National Security Agency spied on the communications of the presidents of Brazil and Mexico. Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist responsible for many of the bombshell NSA reports in the past few months, worked with Fantastico on the report based on more documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

This new revelation follows a Guardian report from July revealing that the NSA has been monitoring the communications of Brazilian citizens. At the time, Brazil’s foreign minister expressed “deep concern” about the news, and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff convened a meeting of cabinet ministers to discuss the story.

So, naturally, this new report has fostered more outraged in the Brazilian and Mexican governments.

Fantastico showed what it said was an NSA document dated June 2012 displaying passages of written messages sent by Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, who was still a candidate at that time. In the messages, Pena Nieto discussed who he was considering naming as his ministers once elected.

A separate document displayed communication patterns between Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and her top advisers, Fantastico said, although no specific written passages were included in the report.

Brazil’s justice minister has already called the report, if proven true, to be a huge violation of Brazil’s sovereignty. In the case of that country’s president, Greenwald told the Associated Press that her communications were intercepted by an NSA program “used by the NSA to open and read emails and online chats.”